Salmon: a species in crisis

Scottish salmon: a tragedy of the commons

Nowadays I only eat salmon that I catch myself. I've not eaten salmon for many years.

In 1971, Tay Salmon Fisheries, based at Tappie, adjacent to Kinfauns, as we drew in the net, the corks were bobbing. We laid bets amongst the crew, as to how many “fish” would be in the “bag”. It looked like a massive haul. So it was. A single, magnificent, male, displaying significant signs of sexual maturity, fifty-seven pounds. I made desperate representations. “Throw him back” I pleaded. But no, the gaffer’s decision was final, Company Policy, put him in the Kitty-Cat box. The equivalent of feeding your beloved grandfather’s, intestines to your cocker spaniel.

1973 still working the Tay nets at Almondmouth, saving up to join Anna in Greece. A very wet night, after a bruising, eight-hour shift, beating the gaffer at gin rummy in the bothy, he decided, at six o’clock in the morning, to drag us outside. The river, yellow brown, running high on the Garnickie Shingle, we shot, a very short net.  By midday, we had to stop, it was a Saturday, thankfully all the law allowed. We’d landed almost a thousand fish. There were additional lorries on the shot-head. Two years later the fishery collapsed - never to recover - a tragedy of the commons. We never learn.

During the sixties and seventies, the rod and line fisherman were also doing their best to accelerate the salmons’ decline. The heavy spring running fish “Springers” the most prized trophies, were mercilessly hunted down. The method, “harling” or “trolling” a lure behind a boat, covering all the available “lies”. The bait, a Kynoch Killer, killer indeed. This method was extremely efficient and decimated the spring run, effectively removing the cream of the gene pool, it has not been replaced. Nowadays late winter / early spring catches are sporadic, verging on non-existent.

Of course, at this point I could bore you stupid with my fishing stories stretching back over more than half a century. My friends will confirm this. This is about salmon – not me!

The reason for the salmons’ decline are legion and complex: over-exploitation, the Greenland fishery, the Northumbrian drift nets, stake netting, and, of course, river half netting; climate impacts on all aspects of the salmons’ life cycle, eggs, fry, parr, smolts, grilse and mature fish; pollution – the Tay is not as it was – the vast hatches of ephemeral flies have disappeared, nobody knows why; predator / prey imbalance – current conservation policy favours the former, seals, mergansers, cormorants - forget species, conserve habitats, species will look after themselves; disease and parasites increase as stress increases.

A variety of solutions have been applied in efforts to conserve this iconic species – some good, some indifferent, some very bad.

In attempts to supplant the wild fish and maintain supplies of protein for human consumption, salmon “farms” were set up along the western seaboard of Scotland. These were located close to wild stocks, not only of salmon, but of their inshore cousin the sea trout. Parasite loads increased exponentially. In 1987 I noted a surge in the purchase of a propriety brand of dog flea powder. This was emptied into the salmon pens, illegally, to control sea lice and allowed to disperse in the sea – killing a wide range of arthropods and molluscs. The wild sea trout was driven to the point of extinction, it had no defence to sea lice at high densities. Perhaps, nowadays, the situation has improved a little, but even so, the seabed beneath the cages resembles a rubbish dump. I loathe the idea of these large pelagic fish penned up in pesticide treated cages with barely room to move around, and, absolutely no opportunity to fulfil anything approaching their natural life-cycle, condemned to a brutally short life filled with stress and disease. How can the British public be so concerned with the treatment of dogs, cats and donkeys, while ignoring the fate of one of our most iconic, animals. What is it? Warm blood good, cold blood bad?

The nets, in all their various forms, have, by and large, been removed, although netting licences are retained, no doubt for future use. You might find this to be altruistic but, salmon netting had become uneconomical long before it ceased to be widespread.

The angling fraternity has also chipped in, first bag limits and seasonal limitations, finally a total “catch and release” policy. This itself, is a good thing. It’s widely rumoured that a wild fish in the river is worth 100 times more to the Scottish economy, than a fish on the table. It demonstrates a key principle, namely, one way to conserve a species, is to make it pay.

Personally, I no longer fish for salmon, realising that to catch and release is to cause suffering to an animal for my own personal pleasure. I don’t however object to others continuing to fish, provided it is carried out with respect and humanity. As to the solution - society must reject western lifestyles and adopt more sustainable ways of living.

Jock                                                                                                   December 2019